Taranchula Black Metal Detector

From Homestar Runner Wiki

The Taranchula Black Metal Detector was produced by Videlectrix Kidx as a consolation prize on children's game shows. It is officially endorsed by Schenkel McDoo, who suggests that it could be used to "maybe find some coin!" It increasingly flashes a red light and gradually builds up a beat to an elaborate rock piece as it gets closer to metal. Strong Bad tried to use it to find ancient ruins, but he only managed to detect bottle caps and tin foil. Strong Bad also states that when he used it indoors, it microwaved Strong Mad's eyebrows off.

In Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, Strong Bad can use the same metal detector to find various metal and non-metal items hidden underground. In Homestar Ruiner, it comes with treasure markers to help Strong Bad remember where to dig after he steals one of The Poopsmith's shovels. In subsequent episodes, Strong Bad collects a "built-in shovel attachment" at the same time as the detector to shorten the time gap between finding an object and unearthing it.

There are a few in-game references to the fact that it is used in every episode. In Dangeresque 3: The Criminal Projective, if you wait until Extended Play to pick up the detector, Strong Bad says, "This was supposed to be a prop used during the movie, but SOMEBODY—" here he glares at the player "—didn't think it was important enough to pick up!" In 8-Bit is Enough, Strong Bad dryly remarks, "Once again, ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the Taranchula Black Metal Detector and shovel attachment."

In Baddest of the Bands, when Strong Bad announces "The King of Town" on stage, The King of Town plays the same song on his guitar that the metal detector plays when it finds an item.

In 8-Bit is Enough, the season one finale of Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, Homestar Runner breaks the detector after he is unable to use it to find his lucky quarter inside his own stomach. It later disappears, possibly due to the destruction of the boundaries between reality and video games.

The item's name is a reference to black metal, a style of heavy metal music. The song that the Detector plays sounds suspiciously like something from that genre, despite the fact that Taranchula is generally portrayed as a death metal band, a distinctly different genre.